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Southeast Asia forced-labour scams

Southeast Asia forced-labour scams
Overseas job scams are rising sharply with many being lured to Southeast Asia and forced into illegal work. Cases involving Hongkongers were first revealed in 2022.
People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centres, are detained in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar on February 26, 2025. Photo: AP
Asean

Asian scam gangs snare educated English speakers with fake job ads: UN agency

Victims from over 80 different countries are being trafficked into cross-border scams, the International Organisation for Migration says.

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Myanmar

Myanmar approves death sentence in crackdown on scam centres

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Cambodia

Cambodia’s tourism slump leaves Angkor Wat eerily quiet

Crime

China charges alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi with intentional injury: report

Extradited from Cambodia six months ago, Chen faces fresh count that could lead to the death penalty.

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Chen Zhi was sent back to China in January. Photo: Ministry of Public Security/AFP
Cambodia

Hun Manet vows to make Cambodia ‘not worth staying’ for scammers

Cambodia has come under significant international pressure over scam compounds, including from both the US and China.

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Cambodia

Asia-Pacific cyberscam victims lost up to US$114 billion last year: UN

The losses from online scams, mostly investment fraud, are at least triple that from 2023, reflecting a ‘dramatic scaling’, the report says.

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Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong beautician pleads guilty to luring 2 women into Myanmar scam factory

Victims offered free flights, accommodation and reward for transporting 48 million baht before being ‘sold’ to compound.

Poon Sum-yi, 33, pleaded guilty to a count of fraud for luring the two victims into travelling to Thailand. Photo: Jelly Tse
Thailand

Thailand auctions US$18 million superyacht linked to supersized fraud

Nearly US$700 million in assets have been seized in Thailand so far, an example of the amount of dirty money sloshing through the economy.

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Crime

Top operative of China-born tycoon Chen Zhi extradited from Cambodia

Mainland police say Liu Ren founded group that operated multiple online gambling platforms and aggressively solicited Chinese citizens.

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Crime

AI driving ‘more elaborate and deceptive’ cyberfraud in Asia: Interpol

Of the 18 Interpol members that responded to the Asian survey, more than half reported that cybercrime made up 30 per cent of all offences.

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Chinese nationals suspected of running cyberscam centres are escorted to a prison after their arrest in Colombo on May 9. Photo: AFP
Cambodia

Cambodia’s ‘performative’ crackdowns fail to stop scam centres: Amnesty

The rights group said it identified 86 scam compounds operating across Cambodia as of April, up from 53 a year earlier.

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Cambodian authorities display equipment seized from a scam compound in Phnom Penh on March 11. Photo: EPA
Singapore

Suspected Filipino scammer reveals how Cambodian ring conned Singaporeans

De Villar Rizalyn Panganiban, accused of taking part in a three-level impersonation scam, gives insights into the gang’s fraud tactics.

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Crime

Editorial | Hong Kong should spare no effort in fight against financial crime

The recent crackdown by law enforcement agencies from 10 jurisdictions on international scams shows the benefit of regional cooperation.

Mainland China

Myanmar’s Wei family go on trial in latest phase of China’s scam farm crackdown

The clan, one of Kokang’s ‘four families’, is accused of a range of crimes including murder, fraud and extortion.

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Wei Huairen pictured at the time of his arrest in January 2024. Photo: Xinhua
Chen Zhi

Cambodia raids sites linked to Chen Zhi, Chinese tycoon accused of scam empire

82 Chinese nationals among 104 people detained in Phnom Penh raids as governments around the world crack down on Chen’s scam business.

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The detained individuals are of six nationalities and are accused of running online scam operations or residing in Cambodia illegally, local media report says. Photo: Sohu
Sri Lanka

The great scam migration: fraudsters fleeing Cambodia find a new hub

Criminal gangs are setting up in rented spaces ranging from luxury villas to office complexes, thanks to cheap visas and fast internet.

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Thailand

‘Phantom birth’ scam spooks Thailand as hundreds of babies get fake citizenship

Police believe that some Chinese cyber scammers are using these false registrations to launder money through firms they can fully control.

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Trending in China

Ex-China soldier flees Myanmar scam centre, scales wall, masks scent with cow dung

Former infantryman confounds compound bosses with military skills, flees over mountains finally making safety of Chinese embassy.

A former Chinese soldier escaped from a telecom fraud centre in Myanmar by scaling a six-metre wall and masking his scent with cow dung. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Baidu
Thailand

Thailand to extradite Indonesian man in US$10 million scam targeting Americans

The suspect allegedly hired models to lure targets into phoney investment schemes over video calls, dating apps and social media.

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Cambodia

US slaps sanctions on Cambodian senator suspected of controlling scam centres

The sanction freezes all US assets linked to Senator Kok An and his named associates, and bars any American national from dealing with them.

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Cambodia

Video | Inside a scam centre on the Cambodia-Thailand border

The town-sized O’Smach Resort complex, which once housed 29 scam companies, occupies roughly 80 hectares (197 acres).

The town-sized O’Smach Resort complex, which once housed 29 scam companies, occupies roughly 80 hectares (197 acres),
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Thailand

Thailand seizes US$260 million from scammers in ‘decisive’ crackdown

The latest seizure includes cash, cars and bank deposits, bringing the total value of assets confiscated to more US$620 million.

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A fake Singapore police station is seen inside an abandoned scam centre in O’Smach town on the Thai-Cambodian border on March 12. Photo: AFP
Cambodia

Why Cambodia’s new law may do little to combat its scam centres

Analysts warn the lack of provisions addressing the role officials and networks play in enabling scams may limit the law’s effectiveness.

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Cambodia

Opinion | To beat Cambodia’s scam gangs, US must work with China – not blame it

Taking down the deeply rooted, well-connected syndicates would require both Washington’s economic leverage and Beijing’s operational efforts.

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Scams and swindles

Cambodia’s high-stakes war on online scam compounds

Cambodia has vowed to stamp out the scam compounds on its soil by month’s end – but perpetrators remain drawn to the potential for huge profits.

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Illustration: Davies Christian
Hong Kong police

‘Like a horror movie’: Hongkonger rescued after Myanmar forced labour ordeal

Security Bureau liaised with Chinese embassies in Myanmar and Thailand, economic and trade office in Bangkok and Thai authorities to rescue man.

The man is reunited with his family. Photo: Security Bureau
Asean

Southeast Asia’s scam compound survivors suffer in stigma and silence

Many survivors return home to inhabit a murky space between victim and offender, with few support services to help them reintegrate.

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Scams and swindles

Video | Cambodia police raid AI-driven scam centre targeting Europe

Cambodia arrested 65 suspects in a Phnom Penh raid on an alleged AI-powered scam centre that targeted European victims with live video calls.

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